Lawmakers hear debate over SB 974’s fast-track land-use rules and design waivers

Salem — The House Committee on Housing and Homelessness opened a public hearing Monday on Senate Bill 974, a proposal to speed residential development by creating an expedited limited land‑use decision process, placing a 120‑day review clock on engineering approvals and allowing broader waivers of local design standards.

"We have one major item on the agenda and that is ... a public hearing on Senate Bill 974," Chair Marsh said as the committee convened. The bill’s sponsors and allied building‑industry groups urged changes aimed at reducing permitting time and cost; city and county officials, planning staff and some planners cautioned the legislation would be difficult to implement and could weaken local control.

Proponents, including Samantha Baer, policy representative for the Oregon Home Builders Association and the Oregon Property Owners Association, and Jody Hack of the Oregon Home Builders Association, said the bill would align engineering review with existing land‑use timetables and reduce subjective design requirements that, they said, add cost and delay. "Aesthetic design reviews do not make housing more affordable. They make it harder to build," Hack told the committee, citing a study she said showed prescriptive design standards increase costs.

Builders and developers who testified —…